A Value View - The Merchants Trust PLC Podcast

A Value View - The Merchants Trust PLC Podcast

A Value View is a series of topical podcasts from The Merchants Trust, focusing on developments affecting the UK market environment and how the trust navigates them. So what does this mean for investors? – join portfolio manager Simon Gergel as he offers his thoughts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

Valuation Over Sentiment: Merchants Trust’s Investment Discipline in Action

August 20, 2025 • 17 mins
In this episode, Simon Gergel, Portfolio Manager at The Merchants Trust, discusses the trust’s unusually active first half of the year, with eight new stocks added to the portfolio. He explains the rationale behind recent disposals and acquisitions, and shares insights into how the team identifies undervalued opportunities in a volatile UK market.

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Global shocks, local gains: Investing in a tariff-tangled world

June 10, 2025 • 16 mins
In this episode of A Value View from the Merchants Trust, host Jon Cronin sits down with Portfolio Manager Simon Gergel to unpack the seismic shifts in the global economy triggered by President Trump’s 2025 tariff policies. From the ripple effects on US GDP and global trade to the implications for UK-listed companies and the Merchants Trust portfolio, this conversation offers timely insights for investors navigating uncertainty. Re...

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Would you like small, medium, or large?

March 12, 2025 • 13 mins
The old saying goes that ‘small is beautiful’. An increasing number of smaller and mid-sized UK firms are standing out and capturing interest. Simon and Jon discuss what’s driving the growth opportunities among small and mid-caps, where Simon is seeing opportunities in that space, and if he still sees ‘beauty’ in the larger firms in the market, the trust’s usual hunting ground.

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Exciting times for UK Equities?

February 7, 2025 • 10 mins
In contrast to many countries, the UK has entered a period of relative political stability. Simon Gergel describes how this is combining with other factors to signal a note of optimism for investors in the UK stock market. Simon and host Jon also discuss how Merchants has been positioned to try to capitalise.

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From Interest Rates to Breakfast Plates

October 16, 2024 • 12 mins
What’s in store for UK interest rates and investors as we approach year-end? In this 32nd episode of a Value View podcast, portfolio manager Simon Gergel shares his outlook and discusses the factors that had informed the investment case behind Whitbread, owner of Premier Inn. Listen in to find out if Premier Inn’s all-you-can-eat breakfast will stay on the menu.

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With elections behind us, who holds the power?

August 6, 2024 • 16 mins
Who holds the power: the government or the market? In this episode, Simon Gergel discusses the aftermath of the recent UK elections, marked by a significant Labour victory. He explores the market response and highlights where opportunities are being found today. Listen in now to find out more about the impact of a new government and what it means for investors.

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Happy 30th

June 24, 2024 • 17 mins
In this 30th episode of the A Value View podcast, Jon and Simon discuss dividends once again. With Merchants having reached its 42nd consecutive year of paying an increased dividend, just how has the trust managed this? And, what does the state of play look like for the future, not only for income, but for the UK equity market in general? Takeovers, banks, the economic outlook and the effects of political uncertainty all come under...

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A great opportunity set for investors

April 11, 2024 • 16 mins
In this episode, Merchant’s portfolio manager, Simon Gergel is challenged around his ‘glass half full’ view of the UK market. Simon takes the challenge in hand explaining the factors behind his thinking and why, despite short term pain, the opportunity set for investors in the UK market remains pretty much unprecedented. We look at how Simon and his team choose good opportunities for the portfolio from that opportunity set, and whi...

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Glass half full?

December 7, 2023 • 11 mins
There have been many reasons over recent years for investors to be ‘out of love’ with the UK; Brexit, political uncertainty, pandemic, Ukraine, Trussonomics and the perception of worse inflation & economic performance for the UK to name a handful. But, has the depressed sentiment been overdone? In this podcast the team discuss that with many of these factors firmly in the rear-view mirror, and with interest rates potentially cl...

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Talking income

September 22, 2023 • 12 mins
As the trust gears up for the release of its latest interim results, many investors will have an eye on the upcoming dividend. As an AIC Dividend Hero, the trust is well known for maintaining a steady dividend payment throughout the many ups and downs in market conditions over the past several decades. Host Jon Cronin and Portfolio Manager Simon Gergel discuss the approach taken to try to achieve the trust’s aims for shareholders a...

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Building the case for building

May 26, 2023 • 10 mins
The housing market has long been seen as a key bellwether of the overall state of UK market. But the recent squeeze on the cost of living – namely, rising prices which have in turn driven interest rates higher – has been keenly felt in that sector. In the latest podcast episode, Jon and Simon debate the fortunes of the UK’s housebuilders as well as looking at what other companies could benefit from a more buoyant sector, with first...

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A Closer Look at the UK’s Stock Market

March 30, 2023 • 13 mins

In the latest episode of ‘A Value View’, host Jon Cronin gets Simon Gergel’s thoughts on the current outlook for the UK’s FTSE 100. On the one-hand, the FTSE hit an all-time high in February, on the back of bumper profits for several of its constituent stocks. But, on the other hand, there are questions around the future growth prospects of the London market after two major UK companies announced they intended to pursue stock marke...

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Passed Peak Fear for Investors?

February 16, 2023 • 14 mins
Are we in an environment where investors can now see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel? Some inflation pressures are abating and although rates are still going up, the fear that rates are going to go up faster, and to higher levels than expected, is probably over. This is already starting to be reflected in the stock market. However, the UK market still trades well below historical averages with many strong companies tr...

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Challenging times

November 2, 2022 • 11 mins
There are a number of serious challenges facing the UK economy – rising energy costs, the cost of living crisis, rising interest rates and mortgage costs and supply chain issues to name a few. However, while they may not be showing signs of abating, a number of factors are becoming ‘less bad’ or at least not getting worse. Also, the UK stockmarket is different to the UK economy, particularly when investing at the larger end of the ...

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Reigning Supreme

June 20, 2022 • 7 mins
On the occasion of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Simon and Jon reflect not only on that incredible achievement, but also on the highs and lows faced by The Merchants Trust over its 133 year history. Almost six months into a tumultuous 2022, it also falls due to look more currently and have a mid-point reflection and ponder what may be coming up for the remainder of the year. With markets reacting daily to news flow, Simon describes...

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Powering Towards the Future

May 3, 2022 • 11 mins

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent concerns over fossil fuel supplies from Russia have combined in a perfect storm with already rising energy prices and wider cost of living inflation to push energy security and affordability into the spotlight as part of the ongoing energy transition debate. Portfolio manager Simon Gergel and host Jon Cronin share thoughts on the current energy situation, as well as discussing the inve...

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A UK Renaissance?

March 22, 2022 • 9 mins

The UK market has been more resilient than global peers so far in 2022 and whilst highly valued growth stocks across the globe feel the impact of rising inflation and interest rates, many value stocks that were previously languishing have seen a welcome boost. International investors appear to be looking more closely at owning UK stocks, but how consumer spending will pan out in the current environment is still to be seen.

Recorded ...

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Separating The Wheat From The Chaff

January 14, 2022 • 11 mins
As 2021 fades in the memory, the spectre of inflation is firmly on investors’ minds and Simon Gergel gives his view on what that may mean for markets in 2022. After a year where finding genuinely under-priced good businesses – rather than those that are cheap for a reason – paid dividends, Simon explains how extreme pricing anomalies still appear prevalent. This could be where investors are overlooking longer-term potential or, equ...

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Out of Time For Just-In-Time?

November 2, 2021 • 12 mins
Supply issues have been in the spotlight of late. Where companies had got used to ‘just-in-time’ supply chains, they have now seen just how easily these can be disrupted. Whilst such factors mean we’re not out of the woods yet in terms of economic recovery, and wary of inflationary pressures building up, Simon Gergel describes how he’s trying to look past the short-term noise.

Produced and recorded by Lansons at the Lanson...

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The UK Five Years on…

July 12, 2021 • 12 mins
Five years have passed since the Brexit referendum and many different factors have made that a particularly extraordinary and challenging period for the UK market. However, the trick has been to look through the various market uncertainties and using that lens, many mispriced opportunities have presented themselves. Right now, the UK market still looks cheap relative to other markets, and the interest of overseas investors, private...

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